Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to support the comments made by Senator Hayden in welcoming the progress made to address the housing crisis, and I agree much more needs to be done.I compliment her on her personal commitment and efforts to bring about a workable solution and see real progress made in addressing in a meaningful way the scourge of the housing crisis. Her record in that regard stands on its merits.

Senator Sean D. Barrett always makes very interesting comments and contributions which demonstrate a lot of common sense. I agree with him, as I would love to see the way of disposing of assets being much more open and transparent and it being done through public tender or auction. I assume the scale of the crash and the level of distressed assets must have been the reasons the previous Government established NAMA and for all of the difficulties we have seen since. In the cool calm of day I would like to have a debate in the House on the lessons to be learned from what happened and how we can avoid them in the future, as well as how we might deal with issues such as this if they were to arise in the future.

I support my colleague, Senator Terry Brennan, in welcoming the fact that the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Paschal Donohoe; the Minister in Northern Ireland, Mr. Mark Durkan, MLA, An Garda Síochána, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, local authorities and road safety groups are coming together to call on road users throughout the island of Ireland to reflect on the number of lives being lost on the roads as we mark international day of remembrance for road traffic victims. As the Senator said, 38,500 lives have been lost on the island of Ireland during the decades, which is a frightening statistic. We can all play our own small part in ensuring we heighten awareness. We have discussed the issues of drink-driving and speeding, but small things such as checking our lights, brakes and the state of our vehicles as we head into winter would certainly make a contribution. I urge people to attend the various commemorative events being organised throughout the country and ask all of us to think long and hard when we sit behind the wheel of a car. It is so easy to end our life of that another person. This winter and Christmas we should ensure no family suffers the loss of a loved one through our carelessness or negligence.